Choosing a seated or lying down position,
Begin to take a few long slow deep breaths and let the eyes close and begin to let your body sink into the surface.
Settling the breath down,
Just letting it happen,
Relaxing the muscles of the belly that may be clenched.
Relaxing the feet and hands,
Letting them be at ease.
Now bringing gentle attention to the jaw,
The muscles of the jaw,
Places where we tend to clench and hold so much stress.
We don't need to force this area to relax,
Just bringing attention there and separating the teeth.
It might be a nice time for another deep breath in,
Relaxing the belly and letting go of tension on an exhalation before settling the breath back down.
Letting micro-movements begin to happen at the jaw.
These movements are so small that somebody watching you might not even know you are moving.
Gently taking the lower jaw,
Left and right,
Through a teeny tiny arc,
Teeth separated,
And just being curious about what you discover.
Then coming to stillness,
Re-relaxing your hands and feet and your belly,
And then another micro-movement,
Letting the mouth open and close but without bringing the teeth together.
So it's a tiny motion,
A little bit open,
A little bit closed,
Tiny movements,
Very slow,
And then settling into stillness again,
Noticing what you feel.
This last movement,
A little bit like the movement of a drawer,
If you were to pull a drawer out and then push it back in,
But this is so tiny and subtle where we can take the jaw and move it out away from us just a little tiny bit,
And then back toward the back of the head,
Sort of out and in very slowly as if your jaw were a little drawer.
Just noticing that and then coming to stillness again,
Deep breaths,
Welcoming oxygen in on your inhalations and letting go of stress and tension on your exhalations,
And bringing attention to the neck and the head,
Micro-movements,
The tiniest nodding the head,
Yes,
So the chin moves up and down through the tiniest arc of motion very slowly,
And then moving into nodding left and right.
You may sense that movement deep inside the head,
The base of the skull.
Letting that head move left and right,
And then back to a yes again,
So slowly,
And then coming to stillness and taking another minute or two to just be.
Feet relaxed,
Hands unclenched,
The belly soft and softening,
And the breath moving naturally,
Lots of space for the breath,
And your body is thanking you for this time that you've taken,
Giving it a chance to reset,
To find some ease,
Help your muscles and your jaw remember that they know how to find some relaxation.
And as you're ready,
Beginning to notice any light or sounds or the temperature of the air around your body,
Space around your body.
Letting your body begin to wake up a little bit,
Perhaps stretching,
Breathing a little more deeply,
And letting the eyes open as you're ready,
And taking in colors and light as you do this without rushing,
And letting this relaxation move with you into whatever is next.
